SBC names a Bivocational and Small Church Advisory Council

The Southern Baptist Convention recently named a Bivocational and Small Church Advisory Council to provide insight and counsel to the SBC Executive Committee and to serve as a bridge back to the pastors. You can read the Baptist Press news release here. This action is one that other denominations would be wise to copy.

It is no secret that the numbers of bivocational ministers are growing in nearly every denomination today, and those numbers are likely to continue to increase.  Despite this, many denominations do very little to connect with their bivocational leaders. Their focus remains on the larger churches, and the voices of their bivocational ministers are often not heard. It should come as no surprise that many bivocational ministers feel little or no connection to their denomination and its programs, and if the pastor is not connected it is likely that the churches served by these pastors will have little connection as well.

Exact numbers of bivocational ministers are impossible to determine. The annual reports of some denominations are not designed to capture that information very well, and in many denominations a significant number of smaller churches do not bother to fill out the annual report anyway. (Another sign of being disconnected!) Many leaders of various denominations with whom I speak estimate the numbers range from one-third to one-half of their churches are being served by bivocational ministers. That is a large percentage of churches to ignore and may be one reason so many denominations are struggling.

An advisory council seems like such a simple step to take to help avoid neglecting the needs of so many churches. However, it will only work if this council truly has the ear of denominational leadership. Sometimes, councils and boards are created to merely rubber-stamp the plans of the leadership. They are created for the appearance purposes only and have no significant role to actually play in the life of the organization. If this happens, bivocational ministers will catch on pretty quickly and become even more disenchanted with their leadership.

Bivocational workshops in Michigan

On September 14 I was privileged to lead a couple of workshops at the Church Equipping Conference for the Baptist State Convention of Michigan.  The workshops I presented were "Transitioning Your Church to Be More Effective" and "Time Management for Bivocational Ministers."  Each were presented twice that day.  Jeff Iorg, President of Golden Gate Theological Seminary was the plenary speaker, and following that service we broke up into the various workshops scheduled for the day.  George Fountain, Bivocational Pastoral Consultant for the BSCM, was the person who initially contacted me about coming, and I want to thank him for the opportunity.  I never heard an official total for the event, but during lunch I did overhear someone estimating there were over 400 people attending this conference.  Judging from the attendance in my workshops a number of those persons were bivocational ministers or lay leaders in bivocational churches.  It was truly a great day.

In an event like this there is often not a lot of time available between workshops.  I think there was about a 15 minute gap between sessions which did not give the presenters and attendees much time to interact between sessions.  However, I was struck by some of the comments I heard as people were leaving my workshops and by e-mails I later received.  This was especially true regarding the "Time Management for Bivocational Ministers" workshop.  It became clear to me that this workshop was really needed by some of those who attended it.  At least one was about ready to leave the ministry because of the stress he was feeling as a bivocational minister.  Another thanked me for a personal story I shared in that workshop, and I felt from his words and the look on his face that it spoke to a challenge he was feeling in his own life.

I want to commend the Baptist State Convention of Michigan for recognizing the value bivocational ministers bring to their churches and for ensuring that their conference offered opportunities for those pastors to come together for fellowship and instruction.  I hear from so many bivocational leaders that they feel ignored or abandoned by their regional and denominational leaders.  George Fountain and the other leaders in the BSCM are making sure their pastors do not feel that way.  May their tribe increase!

Bivocational ministry is tough, and those whom God has called to this ministry needs all the support they can receive.  We in denominational leadership must make sure that we provide them with the instruction and encouragement and support they need to fulfill God's call on their lives.  As the numbers of bivocational ministers continue to climb in virtually every denomination, this support will become even more critical in the future.

For those pastors (both bivocational and fully-funded) who feel overwhelmed by all the demands on their lives, you must find ways to bring your life and ministry into a proper balance.  I know that is not easy.  Believe me, I know.  But, your life, your family, and your ministry depends on you doing that.  Find a workshop that will help you do that.  Talk to other pastors who seem to have been able to do that and ask how they've done it.  Read books and articles that address this.  I've written two that can help you get control of your time:  The Healthy Pastor: Easing the Pressures of Ministry and my newest book The Art and Practice of Bivocational Ministry: A Pastor's Guide. I'm not recommending these just to sell books but because I care about your well-being, and I know first-hand what happens when a bivocational minister doesn't practice good self-care.  Let me know if I can be of any help to you.

Where in the world is Dennis?

If you are wondering why I haven't posted on this blog recently it's because I've been away on vacation.  On September 13 and 14 I was with the Southern Baptists of Michigan leading a couple of workshops at a great event they hosted for their pastors and church leaders.  As soon as I got back home my wife and I left for a much needed vacation in Panama City Beach.  The hotel where we stayed charges for WIFI so I made the decision to take a true vacation from everything. 

Typically, when we go on vacation it takes me a day or two to relax enough to enjoy myself and to stop thinking about the various responsibilities I have.  Not this time!  I played golf a couple of times, but mostly we sat around the pool, walked the beach, ate some fantastic fresh seafood dinners, and read and talked.  We had two or three rainy days, but when the sky was clear we enjoyed watching the beautiful sunsets that occur there on the beach.

Today, I'm back to work with a LOT of emails to check out and phone calls to return, but that's OK.  We had a great time away and have returned refreshed and ready to get back to work.  And do you want to know something?  I was gone for two weeks and the world continued to get along just fine.

Too many pastors seem to think if they take a vacation their church will fall apart while they are gone.  For a number of years early in my ministry I think I had the same mindset.  Even though the church gave me two weeks vacation, I never took but one week.  As I tell workshops now, I guess I was so arrogant that I thought God couldn't do it without me.  If you think like that you need to remember the graveyards are full of indispensable people.  They died, and the world continued just fine.

You and your family deserves a vacation...a true vacation that doesn't include you returning phone calls, e-mails, and jumping every time your phone calls off.  Take the time to refresh yourself and reconnect with this beautiful world God has created.  Do this 2-4 times a year and you'll be amazed at how much more productive the rest of the year will be, and how much your family will appreciate it.

My workshops

In the past several weeks I've had a number of bivocational ministers asking if I was scheduled to lead any of my workshops in their areas.  In every case the answer was no.  I am doing workshops in the Great Rivers Region in Illinois this week and another one in Michigan later in the year at an annual meeting of a state convention, and those are the only two I currently have scheduled this year.  Most years I will lead 3-5 workshops so this is a slow year, but that happens sometimes.

I only go where I am invited, so anyone who is interested in one of my workshops should contact their state convention, judicatory leader, or denominational leader and ask them to invite me to lead a workshop for their pastors and lay leaders.  Although I serve in the American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky, I have led my workshops for Southern Baptists, General Baptists, Church of the Nazarene, Salvation Army, United Methodist, Wesleyan, Atlantic Baptist Mission (Canada), and Lutheran.  I am willing to work with any denomination or group that wants to encourage and equip their bivocational leaders and the churches they serve.  I have also done workshops for interdenominational events held at universities.

The workshops I currently offer are:

• Bivocational Ministry in the 21st Century
• The Healthy Small Church
• Transitioning the Small Church from Maintenance-Minded to Missional
• The Healthy Pastor
• Church Hospitality: How to Turn First Time Guests Into Followers of Christ
• Coaching Bivocational Ministers for Greater Ministry Effectiveness  (This workshop is primarily for judicatory leaders who want a tool they can use to better serve their bivocational leaders.)

Most of these workshops are available in a 90 minute format, a half-day format, or a full day event.  I prefer the full day workshops as they permit the most coverage of the topic, but I have adapted them to fit the needs of the inviting agencies.

Because of my work I limit myself to 5-6 workshops a year outside of our Region, so it is important that people contact me as soon as they can to get me on their schedule.  There is still time to schedule me for an event this fall although 2013 is filling up with other activities.  Again, if you are interested in attending one of my workshops, talk with someone who can host an event and ask them to invite me.  I'll be more than happy to speak with them about their needs.

Bivocational ministry is not a new idea

Yesterday I was talking to a person about the books I have written.  He wanted to know what the theme of my books were.  I explained that most of them were written for bivocational ministers and the churches they serve.  It was obvious that bivocational was a term he had never heard before as he mispronounced it several times before finally asking what it meant.  He is not alone in not being familiar with the idea of bivocational ministry.  Even though bivocational ministry has been around for a long time many people seem to think it is a new concept not realizing it was the norm for many ministers in this country until the mid-1900s.

In my book The Work of the Bivocational Minister (The Work of Series) I quote Luther Dorr who wrote "Baptists and Methodists in particular owe a deep debt of gratitude to the farmer/preacher and the school teacher/preacher of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  These men followed the people to the frontier and supported themselves in order to preach the gospel."  The same could be said of Presbyterian ministers and others whose work allowed them to serve their congregations.   Doran McCarty has written that bivocational ministry was the norm among Southern Baptists until around 1940 when that denomination began to encourage its churches to seek full-time ministers.

Those of us who serve as bivocational ministers have a rich history that began with the apostle Paul who made tents to supplement his ministry right on through today.  We are part of special group of men and women who have faithfully served their churches while providing much of the financial needs of their families through other employment.  That is why at every workshop I lead I encourage bivocational ministers to never feel like their calling is in any way inferior to the calling of a fully-funded minister.  Our call is not a call to a second-class ministry.  It is not better nor lesser than the call God has placed on any other pastor.  We have been called to serve in a particular place at a particular time, and each of us should embrace that calling.

When I began my pastoral ministry in 1981 many denominations paid little attention to the churches that called bivocational ministers.  There were few resources developed specifically for us or our churches.  Few people were writing about bivocational ministry.  I was fortunate that I had judicatory leaders who seemed to appreciate the work I was doing, but I have met many bivocational ministers who felt ignored and unappreciated during that time.  The good news is that is changing.

Many denominational leaders now see the value bivocational ministers bring to their churches and are seeking to resource these ministers and their churches.  Publishing companies are now willing to produce books and other resources specifically developed for bivocational ministers.  I really need to recognize Beacon Hill Press for the support I have received from them in publishing many of my books.  In September they will release my eighth book The Art and Practice of Bivocational Ministry: A Pastor's Guide.  Their support for bivocational ministry has been wonderful.  Universities and seminaries are developing specific programs suited for bivocational ministers; some now even offer dual-degree programs for persons who feel called to bivocational ministry.

It is an exciting time for those serving as bivocational ministers.  You are providing the Kingdom of God with an important ministry.  You have many new opportunities for training and resources and the number of churches who need your ministry is growing.  While we have a wonderful history, our future is even brighter.  Thank God for calling you to this ministry and commit yourself fully to it.

Campbellsville University

Yesterday was the fall meeting of the Church Relations Council at Campbellsville University.  It was exciting to hear of all the things that occurred on campus this summer and the plans for this fall and the future.  A number of summer camps were held on campus this summer attracting large groups of children to the campus for the first time.  Several of those children made first time decisions for Jesus Christ while attending their camp.  New dorms are being built to house the growing numbers of students who are coming to this Christian university to prepare themselves for the calling God has on their lives.  Some new programs have been started, a number of new sports teams are now available, and a growing number of people are now taking courses that are available online.  Add to all this, several students spent their summer on mission trips in areas throughout the US and around the world that were made available through Campbellsville University.  It was a great day hearing about all that is happening on this wonderful university.  If you have young people considering colleges you owe it to them to suggest they explore the opportunities that exist for them at Campbellsville University.  As a member of the Church Relations Council I would be happy to arrange a campus visit for those students and their parents.  You can get much more information about the university at their website, www.campbellsville.edu.

Also attending the meeting yesterday were a couple of long-time advocates for bivocational ministry.  David Sanders recently retired as the Director of the Center for Bivocational Ministry at Campbellsville University but returned yesterday to attend the meeting.  Coming with David was Ray Gilder, National Coordinator for the Bivocational Small Church Leadership Network, who has done much to support and encourage bivocational ministers throughout the Southern Baptist Convention and across denominations.  Ray serves a similar capacity in the Tennessee Baptist Convention.  I had not seen Ray in a few years so it was good to touch base with him yesterday and hear about some of his recent work.  You can find out more about the ministry of this organization and the support they offer bivocational ministries at http://www.bivosmallchurch.net/.

It was a great day with people who share my beliefs about bivocational ministry and the importance of Christian higher education.  Even though few students were on campus, there was an energy there that I could feel as soon as I got out of my car.  As I was leaving I took a few minutes to drive around the campus and was amazed at the changes that have occurred there since I began serving on this council a few years ago.  The president, Dr. Michael Carter, and his staff and faculty are doing a great work there, but each of them will be quick to point out that all the credit goes to God.  He has truly blessed this university and continues to do so.  Campbellsville University is receiving students and producing servant leaders, and that excites me about the future.

SBC elects new president.

I am not a Southern Baptist, but I have been watching the reports about their election of Dr. Fred Luter as their new president.  As the media has reported, this election is a historic event in the life of this denomination.  The SBC was birthed, at least partially, as southern Baptists separated from their northern brethern over the issue of slavery.  The election of Luter, an African-American, as president of the SBC will certainly go down in Baptist history as a monumental event.  Some reports state this is a way for the SBC, who has seen a decline in membership in recent years, to appeal to more ethnic churches and perhaps convince them to join the denomination.  Time will tell if that happens or not.  Other reports claim this is the next step for Southern Baptists as they attempt to put their pro-slavery past behind them.  In 1995 the SBC apologized for supporting slavery in their early years, and the election of Luter is one more step in their effort to separate themselves from that past.  For some in the denomination, this is probably also true.  However, my concern in all this is that Dr. Luter is more than the color of his skin, and in all the excitement I hope people do not miss that.

While attending a pastor's conference at Campbellsville University a couple of years ago I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Luter preach and was able to spend a brief amount of time with him.  This does not make me close friends or an expert on Dr. Fred Luter!  But, that brief exposure to him made me a big fan.  I found him to be a man of passion for God, for people, and for the ministry.  His work in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina was huge for the people of his church in New Orleans and for the entire city.  His story of coming up out of a rough neighborhood where he admits he made his share of mistakes to becoming one of the premier ministers in America is inspiring.  The bottom line, in my opinion, is that Dr. Fred Luter would be a great president of the SBC, or any denomination, regardless of the color of his skin.

In my recent book The Healthy Community: Moving Your Church Beyond Tunnel Vision I noted that one of the problems many churches have today is a lack of excellence in their denominations.  Many denominations are mired in controversies they won't resolve, they lack vision, and they are too much controlled by the politicians within their denominations.  They pass resolutions that say the right things, but often the implementation fails because of a lack of passion around the issue.  For years one of my prayers is that God would send us leaders who have passion about what they are doing.  Dr. Fred Luter is a man of passion, and I predict the SBC will be a stronger denomination when his term expires.

As denominations seek new leadership in the future I would hope they would look for men and women who, like Luter, are passionate about ministry.  We don't need more bureaucrats leading our denominations.  We don't need more people who have played the political games of their respective denominations until they have worked their way to the top spot.  We need individuals who believe in the authority of Scripture, who believe that the Great Commission gives churches their marching orders, and who believe that Christ came so that all who believe in Him can be saved.   Such passion is contagious, and when the leaders are people of passion we'll see it trickle down throughout the denomination and its churches.  When such passion exists in the churches we'll see them begin to impact their communities for the Kingdom of God in new and exciting ways, but it begins at the top.  Congratulations to my SBC friends...I believe you have elected the right person for this time in the life of your denomination.  I pray other denominations will follow their example.